Wire coating apparatus



Jah, l, 193.5. w, El LEONARD 1,986,733

WIRE COATING APPARATUS Filed Sept. 9, 1931 Patented Jen. 1, 1935 UNITEDSTATES PATENT oFFicE WIRE COATING APPARATUS Application September 9,1931, Serial No. 561,939

1 Claim.

This invention vrelates to a process and apparatus for the continuouscoating of wire, one of the objects being to produce coated wireentirely free from grease and having a clean, shiny iinish.

Other objects may later become apparent.

The usual method of coating wire is to draw the same down to within afew thousandths of an inch of the nish size and then to wet draw it toproper size while being coated. Wire that has been coated in this manneris objectionable because it is practically impossible to prevent some ofthe drawing grease or lubricant from remaining on its surface, whichreduces its commercial value.

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is a side view showing one form of this invention.

Figure 2 is a top plan view thereof.

Figure 3 is a top perspective view of one of the details of theapparatus shown in Figure 2.

Figure 4 is a top perspective view of a detail of Figure 3.

Having reference to this drawing, the process consists in the use of areel 2 carrying wire 3, this wire having previously been drawn tofinished size so that it is not necessary to further draw it down duringthe coating operation. This wire is led from the reel 2 and givenseveral turns about a drum 4 positioned in a coating fluid containingtank 5. From the drum 4 it is led through a live rubber wiper 6 carriedby an arm 7 which also carries several comparatively ilne wires 8 whichare wrapped about the wire 3. From here it is passed through a dryingand tensioning block 9 to the bottom part of a drum l0, which is drivenby a motor 12 so that this wire will be drawn through the variousdevices which have just been described. The wire goes from the bottom ofthe drum 10 through a wire straightener 40 13 of the usual constructionand back to the top of the drum l0, a lifting linger member 14 servingto prevent the wire running from the top of the drum 10 down to itsbottom. I n case the drum 10 is provided with some dividing means 45carried by itself this finger member 14 will not be necessary. x

The drying and tensioning device 9 consists specifically of a frame 15carrying a pair of blocks 16 having their adjacent side wallsconstructed to form a tortuous passage 17. An absorbent cotton strand 18is positioned in the tortuous passage 17 about the wire 3, and screws 19are provided for adjustably varying the distance of the separation ofthe blocks 16. This device serves 5 to tension the wire 3 and at thesame time dries it. When the motor 12 is operated the drum 10 draws thewire 3 from the reel 2 and into contact with the coating iluid containedin the tank 5, the wire being given a predetermined number of turns l0about the drum 4 so that it remains in the coating fluid a sumcientlength of time. The rubber wiper 6 removes any surplus coating fluid,and the twisted wires 8 serve to burnish the wire to a brighter rlnish.-The drying and tensioning de- 15 vice 9 dries the wire so that when itis wound upon the drum 10 it is ready for commercial marketing. Thescrews 19 on this device may be adjusted to insure adequate drying. Ifpreferred, some other absorbent material than the cotton strand 18 maybe substituted in the passage 17. Wire coated according to thisinvention is bright and shiny and, because it is not necessary to drawthe wire through dies there is no danger of its being contaminated bygrease or other lubricants, such as must necessarily be used tolubricate dies. The apparatus is simple and requires less labor thandoes the old method of drawing the wire to size during the coatingoperation. Although a specic form of this invention has been shown inaccordance with the patent statutes, it is not intended to limit thescope of this invention exactly thereto, except as defined in theappended claim.

I claim: 35 In combination, a wire supply reel. a coating fluidcontaining tank adjacent said reel, a drum arranged in said tank andreceiving wire from said reel, a rubber wipe arranged on said tank towork on said wire when leaving said drum, a plurality of fine wiresfixed next said rubber wipe and wrapped about the wire leaving the same,a dryer arranged adjacent said rlne wires and constructed to include atortuous absorbently lined passageway through which said wire passes, areceiving drum and a wire straightener, said wire being wrapped aboutsaid drum a few times, led to said straightener and returned to the drumfor storage.

WILLIAM E. LEONARD.

